Monitor Hurts Eyes

Hi All,

I believe that my laptop monitor is causing my eyes to hurt. When I look at other monitors my eyes feel fine. The images on my laptop monitor seem fine, but for some reason it is causing my eyes to hurt. Possibly it is my imagination, but I do not think so. Do you know of any application software I can run on my laptop to test to see if the monitor is fine? Also, I notice that there is one tiny tiny speck on my monitor that is not receiving color anymore. Also, do you know what happens when someone touches your laptop monitor does it make the monitor degrade over time, or does it have no effect?

Thanks.

Val

Are you using Windows XP with "Clear type" enabled? Clear Type will make text clearer on laptop screens and reduce eye strain.

The speck not receiving color is a blown pixel. It will never come back. Our tv has two specks (it's not LCD, it's a standard tube) caused when my roommate was using a powerful radio transmitter (using for nautical communications) in the house with the tv on. When he sent a signal he noticed a big glowing dot on the TV. Then, in disbelief he did it again, and got a second glowing dot. Now we have two black dots on the TV, just like your laptop.

LCD monitors I personally observe can be harsher than CRTs. Try adjusting your resolution. On my home LCD I have the resolution set to an akward 1152 x 864 pixels. Why? Because it looks the best and has the least strain to my eyes. It is sharper, clearer and easier to read than at either 1024 or 1280 settings. It took me several days of fiddling with it after moving from a CRT screen to really get used to it and to tweak the brightness/contrast to make it comfortable for my eyes. I suggest you experiment in kind.

As far as touching the screen. A light touch shouldn't do much but I wouldn't make it a habit. Might contribute to your blown pixel. Plus, I'm anal about fingerprints. I hate anyone touching any monitor I have to look at (often having to hold back at the office with over the shoulder drivers pointing hither and tither all over the screen).